another big life changing event

Alrighty friends....I know I haven't posted in a while.  There have been so many things happening that I was just too overwhelmed to post.  I'm still not quite sure how to put it all into words.  I figure you guys have put up with my stuttered out writing so this shouldn't be that different.


Change #1 New treatment - I started Avastin like a month and a half ago.  My first treatment came back with an enormous drop in my CA-125.  Every person around me was crying/jumping up and down/shouting prayers from the mountains.  I got the number...I heard it...I knew it was a HUGE drop...but all I could think was...I have been here before (twice).  I have seen this number or a number close to it twice.  I used to go over the moon with big drops.  Now I am reserved...I am worried to be let down so I don't allow myself to be too happy.  I relax a little and I think less about the cells in my body that might kill me one day...but I can't make myself go all the way to relieved.  Then the second treatment I dropped 103 points.  Still a drop but no where near the last drop.  I go back next week and I am a little worried...where do I go from 100 points...will it not move at all.  Sorry to be soooo Eeyore about this...I try but I am not very successful pulling out a Tigger attitude about all this.

Change # 2 The Bug's Graduation/Move to a brand new school - Her school has been OUR home for the last four years.  Now it is over.  She is finished and being released into the regular school world.  Bigger classes, fewer modifications, new teachers, everything makes me tense.  The Bug is great.  She is welcoming the chance to remake herself in a new school.  Find new friends...try new things...grow up even more.  I am impressed with her everyday.  She is so flexible in large life changes.  She is almost fluid with the big changes.  I think her formative years were spent in flux...so for her change is the norm.  For me my formative years were entirely stable so change scares me.  We created a family within our school building.  It housed my job and her class in the same building.  I was there to help if she forgot something.  Ex: Mooooom I forgot my lunch.  It's alright babe you can have mine.  I loved that I was able to be there for her.  Once again I think she is ready to try life without the mom safety net.  Miss Independent and her shaky, nervous mom.

pic with mommy 

perfect picture...looks like letting go!

Change #3 Moving into the Populous of the Unemployed - On May 31st I finished my time with KinderFrogs.  This might be the hardest...biggest..scariest change for me.  I know I have my health insurance for 29 months...but I may not have any money coming in at all.  My parents have both said they are here for that purpose...they are here to help.  I am so not ready to accept that type of help.  I want to contribute something.  I spent last week driving all over picking up medical records.  I had to visit the hospital where they told me I had cancer.  I had to visit the hospital where they removed lots of my insides and lots of cancer.  Those were hard they took me back to two years ago when I was just beginning this fight.  Now I am two years down the road...losing the job that helped me define my worth...facing Medicaid for my child if COBRA gets too expensive.  Hoping and praying that the interview I had for disability went well and Austin will approve my application for disability.  I mean come on guys I have cancer...neuropathy...and new treatments every few months...give a girl a break.

So I think those three changes warrant a bit of a break.  Now it is in writing and it seems a little less overwhelming.  Losing the opportunity to teach is the hardest loss.  There it is friends.
Still Love you guys to the moon and back!
Sarah

Pay it Forward in 2012

For the first 12 people who comment below, I will send you something handmade (one per month of 2012). If you want to continue to pay it forward, you can repost this on your own blog or facebook page to give to your first 12.

I realize that 12 seems like a lot. But I plan to space it out and ship one package/gift per month,
in the order of the comments.

If you'd like to be one of my "twelve", please post in the comments below. And be sure to post your email
so I can follow up for your shipping address!

12 months; 12th year in the new millennium 

Hello 2012...

I made it!  I have been told on two occasions so far this year that I "don't have enough cancer" to be included in some things.  My christmas decorations are already down.  I have inspected the continuing ed catalog for ways to educate myself this year.  Then I decided I needed a plan.  I tend to fritter my time away without a plan.  So here are the resolutions I have made for this year.  
1. Work harder to enjoy the now...because there is NOTHING I can do about the later.

2. Yarn Bomb Something...I'm wondering which tree or bench on campus might need a new scarf?

3. Buy a convertible...or at least make really good friends with someone who will let me drive theirs on sunny days.  I will feel the breeze blow through my stubble at some point in 2012.

4. Take a photography class...I would love for the pictures I love not to be accidental.

5. Travel more...I have a nasty case of wanderlust.  My goal is to see at least 2 additional states this year.

6. Make my bed everyday for at least a month...I hear it takes 30 days to create a habit.  Maybe if I make my bed for that many days...I will actually be able to make it everyday this year.  I do love how my room looks with the bed made.

7. Make sure my shoes make it to the closet.  It is truly amazing how many times they stop short of the floor of my closet.  I have found them in the kitchen...den...office...bathroom...under the chair in my bedroom...even right outside of their closet.  Hopefully this year they will make it home every day!

I typed in pile of shoes and this came up...too precious!

8. Take a train...somewhere.  Probably Austin...but maybe

9. Make sure I don't lose touch with Robin...create outings and require her presence.  Even if she makes that sulky teenager face at the start...past experience shows she will be my giddy little girl by the end.

10.Organize at least one Family Craft Night/Day...2011's Tie Dye Party was a hoot and a half...any suggestions for this year?

11. Go to the botanic gardens at least one time each season.

12. Complete my Pay it Forward Challenge.  Make sure that at least once a month I complete a crafty project and send it on to one of my winners.

Hopefully I will be able to keep myself on track and finish each of these resolutions.  I have thought up a charm to add to my Brighton bracelet for each completed task.  Welcome...Welcome 2012...I am sure this will be my year!
to the moon and back,
Sarah